Immortal
by RedneckOtaku
Summary: ONESHOT “Scars heal, and tears will not make the healing process any faster,” Izumi smiled down at her charge... “Thank you sensei for every thing you have done for me and Ed...” Al smiled back up at her.


Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, I never have and never will. 

Immortal

A young boy with long blonde hair flew across the dirt road behind a small house owned by a simple small town couple. The boy tumbled through the air, his black tank top somehow removing itself from his small body and landed feet away from where the boy landed across the street. Luckily, there were no near-by houses or anyone around. It would be embarrassing for a teenage boy getting his ass whipped by a very skinny female reading a book.

The boy rose to his feet, panting and whipping sweat from his brow. He bent over and placed his hands on his knees. Thankful he remembered to pack a pair of shorts for days like today. Walking back towards the yard from which he started in, he picked up his shirt and went to pull it back over his head. Pausing he looked up at the sun which seemed to buzz from the heat. Looking down at the darkness of his shirt, he tossed it to the side and figured he would be cooler if he didn't wear it. Looking back over to where the woman stood, she had closed her book and now took up watching him. Her face remained calm and emotionless, and not a bead of sweat was visible on her body. Of course, she was wearing a sleeveless white duster, but still, in this heat, she had to be immortal not to feel it.

"Al your not even trying..."

She spoke calmly to the boy, resting her arms by her side. Taking a moment more to gather in the boy's full image, she sighed and her composer dropped slightly. Taking in a deep breath, she turned to her side and closed her eyes. Moving her arm to point to the back door, she instructed him to come into the house. Together, they walked into the coolness of the small house and rested at the kitchen table. Quickly downing two glasses of ice cold water, Alphonse Elric wiped his head with his shirt and then placed his forehead against the cold wooden table top. Across from him sat his sensei, calm as though it was not almost 100 degrees outside. She was reclined in her chair and her nose was back in her book, paying no attention the half dead boy at her table.

"I don't remember it being this hot in Dublith before Sensei..."

The boy huffed out as he rested his chin on the table, eyes fixated on the woman across from him. The chair came down onto all fours with a light thud and the book was placed atop the table.

"The summers have been getting hotter lately. My guess is it's from the pollution from those big cities."

She picked up her glass of water and slowly drank it down. As she did, she closed her eyes and allowed the ice cold liquid to freeze her throat. She knew it was very hot outside, that was the main reason she chose to come inside. Images of the recent moments outside flashed before her eyes. Alphonse running at her and attempting to land at least one punch or kick; but always failing. It reminded her of only years ago.

--FLASHBACK--

A boy with a long blonde braid ran at her from across the grass field and jumped into the air. He wore a pair of black shorts and no shirt; he had one metal arm and one metal leg. She knew why but still tried not to think about it. As the boy came closer to her, she watched in almost slow motion as he aimed his metal fist at her, but then changed to his other hand. During the change, she managed to spin and kick towards him, her foot landed directly in the middle of his chest. He flew across the yard and then landed across the street. Sitting up, he stared over at her as she continued to read a book. Peeking over the book, she waited for him to come at her again. Which he did, and each time he did, he never managed to land a single hit.

"Your not trying hard enough Ed. Your strong arm is your right arm, but every time you go to attack, you change to your left arm. Why?"

She demand as she closed her book and placed it on a chair which leaned against the house.

"I... I just don't want to hurt you Sensei."

Before he could blink, he felt his back hit the ground and a pain stabbed in his gut. He opened his eyes and saw her standing over him, offering a hand up. He reached up his left hand but she bent down and grabbed his metal hand, lifting him to his feet. She continued to hold that wrist but her eyes were glued to his.

"Try as you might, Ed, you wont hurt me. Even if you did land a hit, it's all part of the training. Scars heal Ed, but if you go into a true fight and you don't want to hurt the person your fighting, you may lose your life. And that is a scar that will never heal. Understood?"

Edward looked down at his metal hand where she held him and just stared. After a short hesitation, he nodded his head and looked up at her smiling.

"Understood."

"Good..."

And without much notice, she let go of his hand and tossed him across the yard once again.

--END FLASHBACK--

Smiling to herself, she opened her eyes and lowered her glass. Looking across the table, she saw Al was sound asleep with his head on the table top. Sighing she reached up behind her head and pulled out her hair elastic allowing the millions of dread locks to fall down her back. After running her hand through her head to allow some cooling, she made a few quick movements with her wrist and pulled her hair back up, this time into a loose bun so her neck would no longer be covered by hair. She walked to the freezer and pulled out a cloth that was placed in there earlier that morning. It was once soaked in the sink, but was now frozen. Dropping it carelessly on the boy's head she watched him jump from a dead sleep to fully awake and in shock. Taking only a moment to realize what happened, Al took the cloth which fell to the floor and placed it on his head.

"Thanks Sensei."

He smiled and leaned back in his chair. After a short lunch with her husband, the two went back outside to continue training. This time, Al tried harder to hit her and almost landed a few attacks, but still ended up face first in the dirt across the yard .The sun was almost gone and house lights were lighting up slowly around town; including Izumi's house. As Al was tossed from the yard once more, Izumi readied herself for another attack.

As she made her stance, her surrounding seamed to dance. She stumbled backwards slightly then regained her balance. The dancing yard stopped dancing but still left her with a major headache. As she went to hold her head, she felt her stomach do a flip which caused her to cough. As she did, she felt the copper taste of blood fill her throat then her mouth. A jabbing pain racing up and down the lower part of her spine. She quickly placed one hand on her stomach and the other by her mouth as she coughed again. This time blood covered her hand as it flew from her half opened mouth. Her eyes widened as she stared at her hand. Soon her hands were in front of her as she felt her legs weaken and her body fell to the ground. Once on her knees, she only got a quick glance of a blurry black figure running at her from across the yard.

She knew at once it was Al. In her head she knew she needed his help, but in her heart she didn't want him to have to deal with this. He watched his mother suffer and die, she didn't want him to go through that again. With quick thinking, she clapped both her hands together and placed them on the ground, just as Al reached her, a large stone wall erupted from the ground and surrounded her. That little piece of alchemy did her in. She fell to the ground motionless as she coughed once more. Al stopped just short of hitting the wall and looked around quickly. Thinking fast, he ran to the front of the house and into the shop where he found Sig, Izumi's husband, waiting on a customer.

"Sig! It's Sensei!"

Was all Al could say as he raced past the husky man and into the house through a back room door. He made it to the kitchen before he heard Sig behind him. Stepping aside, Sig ran past Al and into the back yard where he saw Izumi lying flat on the ground motionless. Sig didn't bother to wonder about the wall surrounding his back door, he only swooped up Izumi and ran to his upstairs bedroom. Al just stood motionless in the kitchen watching everything happen so fast. He turned to face the back yard where the wall still stood. He thought about it and finally understood why she did that. Walking outside, Al stepped over the blood that stained the grass and dropped to his knees.

The doctor would be on his way shortly and the wall needed to be removed. Clapping his hands, Al placed them on the ground and slowly the ground began to glow blue before the wall slowly sank back into the ground. Hot tears streaked his face as the wall vanished into the earth, leaving nothing but a clear view of Yock Island. The tears continued to streak as he heard footsteps running to him. Looking up, he watched as the town doctor came running into the yard and past Al, right into the house. Sniffling once, he removed the tears from his face and looked up at the sky.

"Sensei would be furious if she knew I was crying."

--FLASHBACK--

A young Al and Ed sat in the grass panting from their recent training. Ed held his cut knee as Al sniffled and whimpered holding his arm which he cut up pretty badly sliding across the dirt. Izumi approached the two boys as she carried a first aid kit from the house. Stopping first at Edward, she cleaned the cuts and bandaged them. As she cleaned and wrapped the new wounds, she changed the wrapping on Ed's upper arm cut from where a fox bit him on the Island three months ago. Cleaning it, she watched Ed wince in pain from the alcohol.

"Don't struggle Ed. It will only hurt for a moment."

She grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm closer to her as she dabbed the cut with the cloth. Ed continued to wince until she wrapped the arm with the bandage and the pain was gone. She held his hand over the cut and smiled.

"Thanks sensei."

She smiled at him and moved her stuff to Alphonse who attempted to move away. But since he banged up his knee as well, he couldn't go far. Tears began to roll down his cheek as she reached to grab his arm. Once she had his arm, he could not move away. She started to dab the cut gently knowing he was in pain but still he cried.

"It hurts...sniff... it hurts."

He whispered through his tears. Sighing, Izumi rocked back on her knees and started at him, releasing his arm.

"Al, tears are not going to make things better. As you get older, you will get hurt allot worse then these little cuts and scrapes. And there may not be anyone there to help you. Crying will not heal your wounds. You will have to suck up the pain and deal with the sting. Tears are for the weak, and your not weak. Understood? "

She smiled at him and attempted to comfort him. He sniffled once more then nodded his head, allowing her to clean and wrap his cuts.

--END FLASHBACK--

Al, with no signs of tears on his face, rose to his feet and walked into the house, brushing off his knees as he did. He sat down at the kitchen table and waited for news of his sensei. Before long, the doctor and Sig came down the stairs. As Sig walked the doctor to the door, he nodded to Al and Al ran upstairs. Slowing his walking to a very slow pace, he carefully approached the bedroom of his sensei. He peeked around the corner into the dimly lit room and saw her laying, eyes closed in the bed. A chair was pulled next to the bed where a wet cloth rested on the seat. A few bottles and glasses rested on the table next to the bed and a pile of bloody clothes sat abandoned in the corner. He remained in the doorway twiddling his thumbs.

"If your just going to stand there, then go stand in your room. Otherwise, enter."

Al jumped as she spoke to him and then without thought came into the room and walked to her bedside. He stood about a food from the bed and just stared. Her eyes were closed and her face looked slightly paler then usual. Her head was propped up by a few pillows but she still lay pretty flat. Her hair was pulled up behind her and the loose bun she created earlier was wrapped in what appeared to be a small white cloth. Silence filled the room as Al attempted to listen to the conversation downstairs. Unfortunately, the two men spoke quietly so he could not hear. Turning to look at her, Al fought back the urge to play 20 questions.

"I'm not going to lie to you Al... I'm worse then before and I probably will be unable to continue training you. Your best bet would be to head back home and use what I've taught you to continue your quest."

"My quest?"

"I know your searching for Ed. I'm just sorry I can't help you more then I already have..."

Al continued to stare at her. She was really good at figuring things out. That is what made her a great sensei; and a great friend.

"Sensei..."

Opening her eyes, Izumi turned her head to face Al. She managed a small smile.

"Listen carefully Alphonse Elric..."

It was the first time she used his full name since they first met many years ago.

"Never forget what I informed you of your past. All those things you and your brother did together., they will lead you to finding him. There are something's in the past you must forget. Just keep in mind the important things, and they may not always be the happiest or proudest times..."

"But..."

"Alphonse... listen. Now, there is a book in the study room that you should take with you. I've written in it a form of code, but it shouldn't be hard for you to crack. Understand?"

Al hesitated but then nodded his head in agreement. He continued to stand there for a moment more then he fell to his knees next to the bed; not crying. Izumi was startled by this but understood when she felt Al grab her hand.

"Thank you sensei for every thing you have done for me and Ed. Thank you."

Izumi could only smile as she removed her hand from his and gently wrapped her arms around his back.

"You've gotten stronger, and I know you will find the answers you are looking for. Just be safe."

She leaned back against the pillows as Al rose to his feet. Sig entered the room from behind him and Al made his way out of the room and into the study room. He didn't want to overhear any conversations so he gently hummed an old song he knew as he searched the books. She never told him the title; but he knew it was because she knew he and Ed found the book many years ago when they first came to Dublith for training. They couldn't understand her code and they put it back. Al smiled as he picked the book from the shelf and opened the cover. A piece of paper fell from the book and he picked it up. It was a drawing of him, Ed and Izumi. A few sloppy arrays surrounded the picture and written in a child's handwriting was 'Us and Sensei learning alchemy'. Smiling, he placed it on the shelf and moved to leave. As he turned around, he smiled one last time at the room. Memories of all those times he, Ed and Izumi spent studying in that room flashed in his mind. Al smiled and slowly shut the lights off, closing the door for the final time. The bedroom door to Sensei's room was closed so he just went straight to his room and began packing.

The following day, rain poured down and cooled off the town which was thankful for the rain. But the rain was not blessed with happiness and children jumping in puddles. Instead, people lined up around the cemetery as they bade farewell to a friend. As the crowd slowly left and headed home, Al remained behind, head bowed into the rain. Rain drops mixed with tears as he stared down at the small stone marker that bore the name of his Sensei.

IZUMI CURTIS 1887 - 1918

"Laugh it up sensei. I know your laughing down on me right now for crying. But just you wait, I'll find my brother and then you can laugh at us both..."

Al whispered into the rain as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Mason.

"You know she was very proud of you."

Al smiled as Mason patted Al's head.

"Good luck Al, and don't be a stranger."

Mason turned to leave. Shortly after, Al turned and walked away, walking past Sig who was the last to remain in the cemetery.

"Good luck Alphonse..."

"Thanks... good bye and thanks."

Al said his final farewell and then picked up his rain soaked suitcase which he carried off down the road where he began his quest of finding his brother.

A/N - I don't recall writing about how she died. I know I've written about her suffering, her life, but never actually dying. Well, maybe once. The once where she died in Sig's arms, but that don't count. I didn't know Al was training with her when she died. Now I know more about the show and I wrote this. Maybe this is more accurate. Hope it was okay. I started to get emotional about the time al was in the study room, but then I re-read it and lost the emotions, Hope it wasn't crappie.

Please review. No FLAMES (Thats Roy's job only). Please look in my profile oo0AnimeChild0oo for all my other stories. And again, thanks for reading. 

"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever"  
Anonymous 


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